2. Just getting started with eLearning?
Are you a subject matter experts
but not an instructional designer?
Just looking for some eLearning
tips?
3. Focus on your audience
Make an important promise early on (with your
headline and introduction) that tells the learners what’s
in it for them.
4. Plan, organize, write.
Before you begin, think: who is the audience, what
is the purpose of the message and how will the
learner use the information.
5. Plan the structure
of the course.
List the topics which
need to be covered.
Make a note of the
points you want to
cover on each
screen. Focus on the
learning objectives –
and bear them in
mind as you write!
6. Most learners only skim on-
screen text so keep it lively
and relevant to the learners.
Add subheadings
for each main
idea.
That means that
learners will be able
to glance at the
subheadings and
pick out the main
ideas.
7. Remember that writing for the screen is very different
from writing for the page. On the page words, have the
main purpose of communicating. On-screen, images
should do that job.
8. Use active
voice whenever
possible.
The active voice is
more direct and
engaging. Writing in
the active voice
gives energy to your
content, which will
keep your learners
reading.
9. As an Instructional
Designer,
your writing style
needs to adapt to
what you are
creating and what
the end product is
supposed to be.
10. Take out all the industry
speak.
Learn how to adjust your “speak” so what you say is
accessible to everyone and it is put in a context
that can be understood quickly.
11. be very
specific.
Students are learning at their own pace and do not have an instructor
in front of them. Sometimes you have to further explain something that
someone would normally experience if they had instructor-lead
training.
12. Use bullet points.
• This is one time when bullet points are your friend!
• Other types of extremely clear formatting work as
well, but the idea is to break up the text into
manageable amounts.
13. Consistency .
Make sure things like
e-mail or email are
the same throughout
the course. By
creating standards,
learners will develop
a feeling of
familiarity when
viewing the courses.
14. Organize the content.
Outline your course with meaningful
titles, breaking the course into
sections as needed. The outline
quickly gives learners a feel for the
course and provides logical breaking
points in the training.
15. Edit, improve, edit. Recheck your
writing to improve and edit until it is
perfect.
16. Variety is very important.
You can go beyond bullet point slides and vary the
rhythm of your text. Ask questions, mix up the structure –
use scenarios, give examples, tell a story.
17. As always, it is best to put yourself in
the shoes of the learner. Read the text
aloud to yourself and decide if it is
working well with the elements on the
screen.
(If you are not able to get it through smoothly, your learners may have
difficulties following it too)
18. Say more, with less. Trim the fat! Or even
better, if a picture is worth a thousand
words, use it.
Try to cut out
words or even
whole sentences
that are not
necessary. You’d
be surprised at
how much more
concise you can
be!
19. Provide an “easy-read”
for the learners
One that is understandable on
the first read-through to avoid
osing them.
Get to the point quickly and
must remove extraneous
material.
20. Know your learners so
well you can get inside
their heads.
Try to understand as much as you can
about them. Then try to make your
eLearning course a conversation with
this “persona”.
21. Use jargon only when
necessary.
Most real people don’t speak in
jargon, they speak in plain English. If
you’re stuffing your course with
manual-speak, it’s not going to read
naturally.
22. Consider adding personality.
Sometimes it is appropriate to add
humor and personality to your text. This
can make an eLearning course a
friendlier experience.
23. Make sure the language and detail is
authentic. If you’re in new territory, talk
to subject matter experts and do the
research to make sure you’re
comfortable with the dialogue and
patterns of speech.
24. Be mindful of grammar and spelling.
When you deliver a course, you want it to be of the highest quality.
Obviously this means that we want both grammar and spelling to be as
perfect as it possibly can. Your credibility takes a hit when you publish typos
on your courses.
25. Use words learners
can picture.
Use energetic and descriptive words as
much as possible.
26. Descriptive headlines and titles: these
should tell the learner what the course
or module is about. Learners should
know what to expect.
27. Personalize text. Support a
conversational writing style that relies
on first- and second-person language
“you,” “your,” “I,” “our,” and “we”
28. Promise it will be
quick: Your text
needs to
communicate in a
second that the
entire experience of
taking the lesson will
be something they
can do quickly and
painlessly.
The way you name your
lessons can help you out.
Short sentences and
paragraphs work great
also.
29. Write to express not impress.
Don’t try to impress with your choice of
words. It just doesn’t work. It can
annoy your learners if you do this.
30. Use text, but do it responsibly.
Keep it to no
more than six
lines per
screen and
intermix it with
other
elements. Also,
don't overdo
your text
animations.
31. Break it up.
If you want your
eLearning content
to be user friendly,
you have to make it
digestible. That
means breaking it
into small chunks,
usually with one
main idea in a
paragraph.
Bottomline: format
improves
readability.
32. Think about handwriting fonts.
They can add a human touch. They
can draw the learner in and make it
seem like the information is a bit more
personal.
